Plate turning gone wrong..

[Donny Lawson]

Well, I tried my hand on making a plate this evening. No picture since it blew apart.:mad: It was a small plate(about 9" wide). I just wanted to see if I could make it look like a plate. It did for the most part then I tried to touch up the edge and "BOOM"!!!!:( I guess I got a catch or something. The top side of the plate was not deep enough. Maybe someone can give some pointers on how to make one of these things without having it go to pieces. This one was made from Walnut. Advise please..
Donny

[Jeff Myroup]

Well, I tried my hand on making a plate this evening. No picture since it blew apart.:mad: It was a small plate(about 9" wide). I just wanted to see if I could make it look like a plate. It did for the most part then I tried to touch up the edge and "BOOM"!!!!:( I guess I got a catch or something. The top side of the plate was not deep enough. Maybe someone can give some pointers on how to make one of these things without having it go to pieces. This one was made from Walnut. Advise please..
Donny

It is really hard to say. It sounds like you had a catch. When I make my plates I always leave mass in the middle while I work the edge. If you take the mass out of the center the plate will flex. How thin was the plate when it exploded?

[Donny Lawson]

It is really hard to say. It sounds like you had a catch. When I make my plates I always leave mass in the middle while I work the edge. If you take the mass out of the center the plate will flex. How thin was the plate when it exploded?
I had the plate basically formed. It was thin to start with. I found a nice piece of walnut at work and it was about 9/16 thick. I glued a waste block on and started turning. The edge was probally about 3/16 thick. What thickness should I start out with? Waste bolck or no waste block?I will get this. I need a good tutorial on this. I'm learning though.
Donny

[Steve Vaughan]

What Jeff said.

[Jeff Myroup]

I had the plate basically formed. It was thin to start with. I found a nice piece of walnut at work and it was about 9/16 thick. I glued a waste block on and started turning. The edge was probally about 3/16 thick. What thickness should I start out with? Waste bolck or no waste block?I will get this. I need a good tutorial on this. I'm learning though.
Donny

I normally start with a blank 1-1/2" - 2' thick. I don't use a waste block. I start between centers, I turn the back and form a tenon. Once I turn it around and put it in the chuck, I turn it the same way I would turn a bowl. I true it up and work the rim of the plate going in a couple of inches. Once that is done I form the rest of the plate.

At 3/16 you were probably flexing. When that happens you need to use a steady rest or your hand to stabilize the plate and use light cuts with a sharp tool and very little pressure.

[Bernie Weishapl]

What Jeff said. I always do the outside edges before moving toward the center. I would say you had a pretty good catch.

[John Keeton]

Donny, it is nearly impossible to go back to the rim of a turned piece - bowl, platter, or plate! There usually is enough movement to have warped the perimeter a little, and the flex will get you evertime. As stated, you need to finish the rim before going any further into the plate. That way, the mass of the blank holds the rim stable enough to work it.

IF, and I mean IF, you can start a light cut further in and bring it continuously out to the rim, you might be able to get that done - once! Your luck probably won't hold for two of those passes!

[Fred Perreault]

Donny, I turn plates and platters often. I glue a block to what would be the bottom, turn the inside of the plate, then use the coles jaws or vac chuck to turn off the glue block and finish the bottom. When I am turning the inside of the plate, I create the rim, finish and sand the inside and turn the underside from the rim to near the glueblock between the headstock and the plate bottom. I have created all styles of rims, but that is not an area where you want to do repeated changes or passes with the tools. Get the rim and edge the way you want it, and leave the rest to the Norton 3x gouges. I have turned plates as large as 14" from 3/4" stock without flex being a problem, and unless one gets a catch, then there has never been any issues. Now that's not to say that there was never any issues... :) Additionally, I do start with an idea for the plate, but due to unforseen circumstances, such as wood defects, user error or such, the plates are often times just the resuts of circumstance. I have made sets of plates, but even that requires accepting some tolerance in the attempt to make exact duplicates. These plates were all done in the past 2 weeks.